Source: ARABNEWS
Bone-white sand squeaks beneath your feet, the curved beach framed by lush forested hills, empty but for a handful of expats and intrepid tourists who have got wind of Sierra Leone’s raw beauty.
Weary of being a poster child for African conflict, Sierra Leone is working to lure back tourists, but for now enjoying some of Africa’s most beautiful scenery — like the palm-fringed Tokeh Beach — is not for the faint-hearted. Arriving at the run down Lungi International Airport, situated across a wide estuary and four hours by road from Freetown, visitors have to decide how to cross the water to reach the capital.
The British Foreign Office warns gloomily on its website that none of the options are “without risk.”
Most flights arrive in the dark, and making the crossing in an aged ferry moving at a snail’s pace or a faster water taxi in often rough waters with poor visibility, can be harrowing.
Helicopter transfers from Lungi airport to Freetown stopped in 2011, four years after 22 people, including the Togolese sports minister, died as a chopper crashed and burst into flames.
“It is a major challenge but also an opportunity for investment to be brought into that area: Faster, better boats or a road system that will make you enjoy the scenery,” said Cecil Williams, head of Sierra Leone’s Tourism Board.
“We see tourism in the next five years as the industry that will bring maximum benefit for socio-economic development of this country.”
Sierra Leone is shaped like a cut diamond and was ironically infamous as a provider of “blood diamonds” during its 11-year civil war, which ended about a decade ago and was one of the most brutal conflicts in recent history. As it lures investors and woos travel writers — in 2009 the Lonely Planet guidebook ranked Sierra Leone one of the world’s top 10 places to visit — it has rebranded itself “a diamond in the rough.”
“Our war was a very gruesome one. Every time the word Sierra Leone reflects back on what happened, we have to fight that image of a war-torn zone,” said Williams.
Arriving in Freetown, the sea breeze affords a welcome respite from the thick tropical heat. Verdant hills ring the seaside capital, which is both crumbling and yet alive with construction.Founded in 1792 as a home for freed slaves, Freetown is steeped in history that the government wants to play up apart from the west African country’s stunning 360-km coastline. In its chaotic and dilapidated streets, one can still find examples of Creole architecture in homes built by slaves returning from Nova Scotia.The wooden two-story houses sport vibrant hues like red, blue, green and yellow.
Then there is Bunce Island, home to a 17th century castle, departure point for tens of thousands of slaves to the Americas. Sierra Leone, which attracted up to 100,000 tourists a year before the war began in 1991, mostly French, now wants to brand itself an eco-tourism destination.
Categories: Africa, Sierra Leone